BMW Targets 2013 Sales Record After Lead Over Audi Widens

BMW’s deliveries will probably rise 4.6 percent to 1.58 million vehicles this year, according to IHS Automotive, allowing it to defend the top spot, which both Mercedes and Audi have vowed to take by the end of the decade. Photographer: Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the
world’s largest maker of luxury vehicles, is targeting higher
sales this year after widening its lead over Audi AG and Daimler
AG’s Mercedes-Benz in 2012.

Deliveries of the namesake BMW brand rose 12 percent to a
record 1.54 million cars and sport-utility vehicles last year,
the Munich-based manufacturer said today in a statement. That
compares with growth of 12 percent to 1.46 million at Volkswagen
AG’s Audi and 4.7 percent to 1.32 million at Mercedes.

Even with the debt crisis depressing sales in Europe,
Germany’s luxury-car makers have maintained growth by tapping
demand in the U.S. and China. Total deliveries for the world’s
top three upscale brands are forecast to increase in 2013, while
mass-market competitors in Europe are bracing for the sixth
straight year of weaker sales.

“We enter the new year with positive momentum,” Ian
Robertson, BMW’s sales chief, said in the statement. “Despite
the prevailing headwinds in some markets, we aim to achieve
another record year in sales in 2013.”

BMW’s deliveries will probably rise 4.6 percent to 1.58
million vehicles this year, according to IHS Automotive,
allowing it to defend the top spot, which both Mercedes and Audi
have vowed to take by the end of the decade. Audi’s sales may
stagnate, while Mercedes closes in on the No. 2 ranking with a
6.7 percent gain to 1.44 million cars, according to IHS.

Mercedes Comeback

“This year will probably be a tick better for the premium
carmakers,” driven by the U.S. and China, said Sascha Gommel, a
Frankfurt-based analyst at Commerzbank AG. “BMW is at the peak
of its product cycle, and Mercedes will start catching up as it
refreshes its lineup.”

BMW rose as much 2 percent to 73.59 euros and was trading
up 1.9 percent as of 1:38 p.m. in Frankfurt in the first gain in
four days. The stock has climbed 25 percent in the past 12
months, valuing the company at 46.9 billion euros. VW shares
increased 0.9 percent, while Daimler rose 1 percent.

Growth at Mercedes trailed its German rivals last year
chiefly because of a sluggish increase in China, where sales
last year edged up 1.5 percent after a 19 percent drop in
December. Deliveries by BMW and Audi advanced more than 29
percent in China in 2012.

China Merger

To revive growth in the world’s largest car market,
Stuttgart-based Daimler is combining two separate sales units --
one for imported vehicles and the other for locally made cars --
into a single entity.

BMW’s sales last year were led by a 29 percent surge in
demand for the 1-Series compact and a 22 percent jump for the
new generation 3-Series sedan. Including the Mini and Rolls-Royce nameplates, the carmaker’s total deliveries rose 11
percent to 1.85 million vehicles.

Deliveries at Ingolstadt-based Audi were paced by 78,700
European deliveries of the Q3 compact SUV in its first full year
after the model was introduced in October 2011.

“In 2012, Audi achieved new record totals in every region
worldwide, including Europe,” sales chief Luca de Meo said in a
statement today. “We managed to buck the negative trend and
continued to grow there.”

The VW unit is rolling out the new generation of the A3
compact this year and will add a sedan variant to broaden its
appeal and compete with Mercedes’s new CLA and the coupe version
of the BMW 1-Series. In addition to the CLA, Mercedes will
refresh the E-Class sedan and overhaul the top-of-the-line S-Class this year.

BMW Expansion

BMW, which is targeting its third straight sales record in
2013, is introducing the 4-Series, a coupe based on the 3-Series
line. It’s also introducing the Mini Paceman crossover coupe and
the BMW i3, the carmaker’s first electric vehicle. BMW’s group
deliveries have climbed 43 percent since 2009, according to
company data.

Demand is also on the rise in the ultra-luxury segment.
BMW’s Rolls-Royce sold 3,575 cars, the most in its 108-year
history, as the U.S overtook China as the brand’s biggest
market. VW’s Bentley today reported a 22 percent surge in 2012
sales to 8,510 cars after expanding with cheaper V8 engines.

“We expect the luxury market in 2013 to continue to be
challenging,” Bentley Chief Executive Wolfgang Schreiber said
in a statement today. “With significant new model
introductions, we believe we have the potential to maintain
growth.”